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Tuareg: nomads of the Sahara

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A Tuareg nomad stands near a 13th-century mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, March 19, 2004. Just as Timbuktu with its exotic staccato name is part of the lore of the Sahara, this same mystery cloaks the Tuaregs, those blue-robed desert marauders who have peopled adventure stories and Hollywood films for years. Luc Gnago/Reuters

Tuaregs ride camels in a camel racing event in the northern town of Kidal, Mali, Feb. 7, 2011. Aliou Sissoko/AP

Tuaregs from Timia perform a dance 'le Dramague,' accompanied by spikes and swords during the annual Cure Salee (salt cure) festival in Ingall, Niger, Sept. 17, 2006. The nomadic tribes of Niger, Tuareg and Fulani, gather for one week in the Niger side of the Sahara because of the rich salt deposits and to rest, fatten their animals, give them the 'salt cure' and enjoy music, dance, and camel racing. Tientan Ling/Reuters

A Tuareg woman with a painted face attends the 'Cure Salee' festival in Ingal, Niger, Sept. 17, 2011. Tuareg, Niger's nomads, have held the three-day-long event for centuries to mark the end of the rains, exchanging news and information amid music and dance as they prepare their animals over several weeks for the dry season. Luc Gnago/Reuters

Tuareg separatist rebels from the NMLA (National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad) stand near their vehicle in Timbuktu, Mali, April 11, 2012. Amid the political upheaval following a March 21 coup, separatist rebels in northern Mali have declared an independent state, dubbed Azawad, that is larger than France. The power vacuum also has allowed an Islamic faction that wants to impose Shariah law in the area to flourish. AP

Tuareg women clap their hands during the official visit of Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the southern city of Tamanrasset, Algeria, Jan. 7, 2008. Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

A Tuareg elder arrives at a news conference led by members of Libyan tribes at a hotel in Tripoli, Libya, March 14, 2011. Chris Helgren/Reuters

Tuareg men relax on the sidelines during a camel racing event in the northern town of Timbuktu, Mali, Jan. 8, 2011. Aliou Sissoko/AP

Tuaregs participate in a camel racing event in the northern town of Timbuktu, Mali, Jan. 8, 2011. Aliou Sissoko/AP

A man walks past the Sankore Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Timbuktu, Mali, April 11, 2012. AP

Tuareg women, recently returned refugees, build a tent in Tin Shabane, Mali, in early March 1997. A year after an armistice ended a free-for-all war in Mali, more than 80,000 Tuaregs have returned from Mauritania, Libya, Algeria, and Niger, but most are too poor to resume their 1,000-year-old way of life as nomad cattle herders. Jerome Delay/AP